Today, I couldn’t help but voice my anger in more than 140 characters. After 30 minute bus journey that would have taken around 7 minutes ( if that! ) to walk, I decided to get off the bus and head back. Thankfully, I had no major obligations today, but millions of Londoners did. Why would they have to suffer leaving home 3 hours early with a chance of still being late for work, missing interviews, meetings all because of the selfish antics of Bob Crow and his minions.

Firstly, I would like to praise thousands of London Underground who stayed on to work and keep us moving even if at a snails pace. They could have had an extra day off, but chose to do their job. Which in real life (outside the TfL fairytale kingdom) is your obligation once you sign a contract and it is not a choice. Let’s not forget all the rest of the TfL staff who will have to bear the extra burden of overflow of passengers and help us get around London.

Without sounding like a right-wing tory, which I am by the way, I would like to leave the politics out of this. I do not believe in Trade Unions. They should have died with Thatcher. It is extremely damaging to the economy (estimated £200mil this time round) in more ways than those decades ago and we are so connected to each other that the ripple effect has consequences way beyond its immediate audience. I am certain there are better ways to reach agreements without bringing one of the greatest cities on earth to a halt.

The only people that I can see supporting this nuisance must live far out of London without public transport as an option and not educated or interested enough to understand the real problem here and buying into Union’s propaganda. Yet, when explained properly that there is no job cuts involved in this matter, would probably oppose the strike too!

There are no job cuts! Voluntary redundancies with wonderful pay packets, repositioning of staff throughout the TfL. For the benefit of the customer, who is a number one priority here and should always be, TfL bringing the staff closer to us, to be at hand when needed and not behind a glass on their asses all day with little care for good customer service, earning more than those risking their lives and serving our country. It will probably benefit the NHS too, given that these slugs would move around the station and get off the obesity ladder. But that is a whole different topic.

I may not be fully politically correct, but I am still correct in more aspects than one. I have no intention in generalising and stereotyping London Underground staff. What I am trying to show is that is exactly what Union action makes me think of these striking workers and I am sure I’m not the only one.

God only knows, what would happen if all those earning below the London Living Wage would stage walk outs, simply because THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO LIVE!!!! Let alone go on 6star cruises..

We can’t be stuck in the past, London Underground needs modernisation to move forward given we give so much money for it. So therefore, I stand strongly behind Transport for London and Boris Johnston and I hope you do too. Let’s not give in to this bullying which we so strongly try to rid off in our schools, yet still have to face in the adult life.

In may I made a little weekend trip to Melbourne, Victoria. I’ve heard that it’s very European so I had to check for myself what they meant by it.

Melbourne is a wonderful city and couldn’t be more different from Sydney. The weather is more European to begin with, You can have all four seasons in one day. As I was there towards the end of Autumn, in May, it was rather chilly already.

City has great friendly people, lots of cafes on every corner with the best coffee I’ve had in Australia and little streets and alleyways covered in impressing graffiti.

I get what they mean by ‘European’ when they talk about Melbourne. It’s hard to put it into words. Here’s a video that I’ve put together from my visit to Melbourne to give you some idea what it’s like.

As Candy Pratts Price said in ‘The September Issue’ (R.J. Cutler’s documentary about production of the biggest issue of fashion bible Vogue), ”September is like the January in fashion.” No, I am not going to write about fashion. However, the truth lies in those words not only in regards to fashion, but our life overall. I do believe I’m not the only one who feels that way.

September is like January. If not for complete ‘starting over’ , then for one last attempt at those resolutions made back in January we may have failed. Even loosing weight I’m sure resurfaces in order to fit in to our fabulous holiday season outfits. I promise this will be my last mention of fashion in this post.

Back in the day, it was the start of a new school year. Although, summer used to be the greatest time of the year – the months of freedom. Now, summer is still fabulous. Great weather, every now and again, late nights sipping wine and killing time in Hyde Park, tan lines, festivals. The city still is dormant and so are people, as if on a break from life, not like back in school, but somehow similar.

September is when it all comes back to life. People return to the streets of London, to schools, jobs, universities. A new load of first years descend on London. Not to mention other thrill seekers and those ready for cut-throat competition for any career opportunities.

I am no different. I had an amazing year which started in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One of the most thrilling places I have ever been to. Followed by life in Sydney on Study Exchange. Australia and especially Sydney, will always have a special place in my heart and hopefully be home one day in the future. Now I am back in London and I am ready to rock.

2013 has been one brilliant, eye opening, life changing year for me and we’re only 8 months in. I intend to keep it that way for the next four. As I have been on holiday for the past month, I had to time to relax and think through my options and plans for the rest of the year ahead. As I will be returning to London shortly, I feel confident about my last year at University (ok, i’m shitting my pants a little too!). Hopefully as many internships as I can take and of course a job. Money is still crucial to fund my “lavish lifestyle” as they say 😉

It’s time to get serious, not that I haven’t been, but I will be graduating in time that will only fly by. So I am getting ready for real life now ay. I always found September to be inspirational, a chance to be different, to start over, to try harder. From my memories, it always worked. Even before The September Issue came out, September was always a January in our worlds on many different levels.

So here’s to the September and another chance for us to make it right. Just like Oprah said, I re-adapted it for this month.

This is it. All journeys come to and end so you can start a new one. Equally my time in Australia has too. What an incredible six months I have had here from the first night out right off the plane and onto Sydney’s famous Oxford Street, my first birthday in summer although it rained, Surf Camp,The Color Run, Mardi Gras and the best party I have ever been too afterwards – Mardigrasland, Australia’s East coast adventures, Stunning Melbourne, amazing job that I enjoyed, too many skinny dips in the ocean, scuba diving to name a few. I even conquered my fear of heights and leapt of the edge at 50m to bungee jump in Cairns. So many first times I had here it is fascinating. Some fun was alcohol induced and some wasn’t but what made my time here even more special is the incredible people I have met here and not only the friendly aussies, but the lot from all over the world. Too many to name, but you all know who you are and I will be forever grateful that I have met you and you have been part of this amazing time in my life. So thank you Sydney and everyone who has been part of it. Whatever journey I’m onto next, it has some LARGE shoes to fill. I won’t say goodbye, I’ll say ’till we meet again; both all of you and Sydney. This city has a special place in my heart now and I left a piece of my heart here. Sooner or later I will be back. Time to board the plane to London and see whats next for me..

My one semester at the university in Australia has officially come to an end. It feels weird. Weird in terms I don’t know how to react to it. I’m partly (mostly) happy that the studying is over, simultaneously feel a bit of nostalgia about the past few months of learning.

This bittersweet feeling is somewhat normal I guess. It has been a tough semester. Definitely more difficult than at home at University of Westminster. Even more so, I had to learn more than my classmates in terms of that I knew nothing about australian specific things like politics, media etc. So on top of everything that all of us had to learn, there was this extra knowledge to be acquired. By no means am I complaining. I have learned a lot of interesting things that I wouldn’t have otherwise. From australian political system to healthy Aboriginal eating habits that are ‘used to be’ now.

Being the only ‘foreigner’ in all of my three subject tutorials was quite a task. Not sure whether good or bad, but I would have liked a tiny bit of preferential treatment 🙂 There was none. However, I was happy to love two of my subjects (modules).

Creative Information Design, which was something I was always interested to try but never had a chance to. On academic level, we were creating print designs and analysis audiences and with the best tutor I have ever met, Catherine Baird, it was a ball.

Informational postcard I had to design for Creative Info Design class about cyberbullying

Another one of my favourites was Advertising Campaign Practice. Now, I always wanted to dip my toes into advertising world just to see what it’s like. And it was a full on experience. Throughout the semester my team were working on a campaign for a client Fiji Water. I was blessed to work with an amazing team of inspiring and driven course mates. The best team I have ever had to work with in Higher Education. We had an amazing time and a Distinction to follow.

Although, the marks do not transfer to my home university, I feel happy that all my hard work actually paid off with good grades. Of course there was a lot of last minute studying, as I do. And one or two sleepless nights. But at the end of the day, It was a truly eye-opening experience and I would not change a thing.

Now that I will be coming back to University of Westminster in September, it will be interesting to compare once again. I am ready to face my final year and eager to enter the real world of PR. If I ever choose to do a postgraduate degree, now I am sure that I would not do it anywhere else but in Australia and most likely at University of Technology, Sydney.

Someone once said “The roots of knowledge are bitter, but fruit is sweet.” Bullshit I say. Well used to say, its over used and I heard too many times to make me want to puke when I hear it. However, I am starting to realise the meaning of it. Not just the plain forward results of learning, but the realisation that once that hard work is over you kinda wish you could have it back, just so you could have the good stuff back too. And the results, well they speak for themselves.

This past month has been a hell of an adventure that will take me at least a few blog posts to go over. As I came back from my Springbreak/Autumnbreak (still getting used to different seasons down under, although I doubt I will ever be able to call July a winter month. Ever!) there was a lot of university assignments that took over my life as did my excessive procrastination. There was one week where I did go out every night, 7 days in a row. Had a blast! That’s all that matters!

Not so long ago my charity loving (or more fun loving like) friends and I went to Newcastle (Not Geordie shore, this one’s down under) to do The Color Run! It’s a 5k fundraising run and it is a hell lot of fun!

The Color Run is not your usual run/marathon whatever you call it. You can run it, you can walk it, you can dance it, its your choice! What you can’t avoid, however is being covered in different colour every kilometre or so. We started with Orange into , the Blue daba dee daba day, Yellow, The Pink Party. It took as an hour to complete the whole lot. We did run a bit, but for the most of it decided to enjoy it and soak in the atmosphere. And so we did.

As you get to the end, there’s The Color Festival. Loud music, lots of people, lots of colour and that’s where the most fun happens. Everyone gets a packet of colour and then some more and every so often all throw the coloured powder in the air creating amazing colourful cloud completely blocking out the sun! It’s incredible!

It does get into your eyes, nose, ears, other places… but it’s all food grade, so nothing to worry about.

I have created a video putting together all the memories from that day. One of the happiest days of my life. And the most colourful!

This has been the most exciting charitable event I could ever think of participating and would recommend it to each and every one of you! It cost us $50 to enter and the money goes to support local charity, in this case Make a Wish Australia and Celebrate Life Foundation and I am very proud of supporting these great causes as well as having the most amazing time.

Even better so The Color Run is coming to UK and other places around the world. Unfortunately, I won’t be back in London in time for it this year, but I am certain this wasn’t my last Color Run.

So here I am.. Half way through my Australian adventure. With it also being spring break here at UTS, in addition to me having no exams! (yay!) I have two weeks to do whatever the hell I want! Therefore I decided I better crack on with what I came here to do (besides the studying) – Travel! See more of Australia and not just Sydney’s nightlife. To be fair the whole building of our residences could be called a ‘scene’ ; bar, club or party, whichever, there’s always a party of some kind going on on a nightly basis where I live. Often of a ‘fancy dress’ type which I find the best!

My trip is a long one, 12 days. Can’t remember the last time I had more than 10 days continuous holiday, so it Is a welcome sight. It’s going to be an amazing trip filled with lots of adventures. As part of it I have booked 10 day organised trip throughout Queensland East Coast starting from Brisbane and all the way to Cairns visiting amazing Whitsunday and Fraser islands, rain forests, white water rafting and the much dreaded bungee jump. But as if that wasn’t enough, I decided to extend my trip a little bit prior and past the organised tour. My first stop became: Surfers Paradise.

After partying with Geordie Shore in Sydney and no sleep I set off to Sydney Domestic Airport for my 6am flight. The pleasant surprise is that they do not check or limit liquids that you can bring on the plane, but they do swipe you’re bag and yourself all over for explosives residue. Now that’s exciting!

As soon as I hit the seat I fell asleep all the way until we had to bring our seats to upright position for landing. Quickest flight ever. It took me good 2 hours to get from the airport to ‘Surf n Sand’ Hostel where I was staying for the night. It’s literally one minute walk from the beach! So there I went as soon as I checked in and spent the rest of the day building my base tan for adventures to come! Now I remember from my Surf Camp I did in March, we’ve been told that Surfers Paradise wasn’t exactly that and there’s better places to surf. I found their waves to be amazing and rather powerful and although I did not go surfing in Surfers Paradise as one would presume, I had a cool play with the waves which hit me hard a couple of times and washed me up on shore. With sun going down behind the skyscrapers that line up the beach just after 5pm it felt like winter is near and it is. Not that it’s cold or anything, it’s still good 30 degrees, , but that it’s getting darker sooner.

Feeling tired with no sleep I turned down the offer to go on a massive ‘Backpackers Night Out’ where all backpackers get together and go on a big night out with endless drinks and free entry to numerous bars. So if you find yourself in Surfers Paradise, be sure to join in on the fun. Although I came for a beach bumming day before my crazy holiday begins. I did venture out In search of food, but instead ended up sitting on the beach listening to crashing waves and enjoying the peace. There is something about the ocean.. Don’t know what exactly, but I could sit there for hours sometimes thinking and sometimes with my mind going completely numb just enjoying the moment. I did, however, meet some locals and ended up being out in the only gay club they have in Surfers Paradise – Escape. Now that made me think gays are endangered species on he Gold Cost. Besides our group of 8 , there were maybe 20 other people and in a venue of it s size that looked so empty especially when half were always in the terrace smoking. There was a fair bit of fun with games similar to Take Me Out, just with a curtain in between the bachelor and the contestants. And obviously they were guys, and ten time less of them. At the end of it there was McDonald’s. On the beach. Must’ve been the best McDonald’s I have ever had.

Having overslept my check out I rushed out to do my last bits of sightseeing. I went up to SkyPoint Observation Deck which is 77 floors up and has the views to die for. In comparison to most tall buildings I’ve been in, the views rarely vary its just the roofs of buildings for miles. However, here in Surfers Paradise, you can see the beach, the canals that are 9 times longer than Venice apparently, mountains and endless ocean. It’s fascinating. And the building actually is the tallest residential building in Australia or the world, can’t remember for sure. I couldn’t resist to go back to the beach for a couple of hours after that and I seem to be getting tanned. Love it! I did manage to miss a bus to Brisbane as they do not run between 1-6pm so had to get a train, with a 40min bus journey to get there first. This journey seems to be taking forever, but I will use the time to write some postcards. I have 12 hours to explore Brisbane. That’s including the sleep , so I better Hurry!